Assessing regional behavioral homogeneity through the lithic industries from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene: Integrated techno-functional analysis at Yahuai Cave (Guangxi, South China)

A technological perspective on the lithic industry of the Bailiandong Cave (36–7 ka) in Guangxi: An effort to redefine the cobble-tool industry in South China

Hinterland intermountain basins and northern and southern piedmonts of the Qinling Mountains accumulated a large amount of loess during the Pleistocene. The loess strata not only record local paleogeographic and paleoenvironmental changes, but also contain rich hominin fossils and Paleolithic remains. In the northern piedmont of the Qinling Mountains and the lower valley of the South Luohe River, the loess strata have multi loess-paleosol sequences with aeolian loess continuously accumulating during glacial and interglacial cycles. In contrast to the northern piedmont, loess stratigraphy in the hinterland intermountain basins of the Qinling Mountains is relatively thin and contains finer loess particles. In this “mini” type of loess stratum, the density of Paleolithic remain generally is higher than the Loess Plateau in the north of the Qinling Mountains. Based on stratigraphic, chronological, and lithic artifacts analysis in recent years, it appears that the regional lithic assemblage belongs to the Oldowan (Mode I) lithic industry, and it is dominated by choppers, cores, flakes, and simple retouched flake tools from 1.15 to 0.6 Ma. Paleolithic open-air sites such as Gongwangling and Chenjiawo in the Lantian area, Shangbaichuan and Liuwan in the Luonan Basin, Qiaojiayao in the Lushi Basin, Longgangsi and Yaochangwan in the Hanzhong Basin, Guanmiao in the Ankang Basin, and the Yunxian Man Site in the Yunxian Basin are representative sites in the region; from 400 to 250 ka, the Longyadong cave site in the Luonan Basin inherited the characteristics of the local Mode I lithic industry, the stone assemblage is made up of cores, flakes, and small retouched flake tools, such as scrapers, points, and burins; during the period from 250 to 50 ka, bi-facially retouched Acheulean tools (Model II), such as hand-axes, picks, and cleavers, were commonly found in the Qinling Mountains region. The emergence of a large number of Model II artifacts indicates that local lithic industries went through a major transition process. Zhanghuokou, Guoyuan, and Huaishuping sites in the Luonan Basin, Diaozhai, Ganyu, Laochihe, and Xiehu sites in the Lantian area, Hejialiang site in the Hanzhong Basin are representative sites in this period; to the turn of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, it may also exist a small flake-retouched tools lithic industry in the piedmonts of the northern and southern sides of the Qinling Mountains. The lithic assemblages in different stages of the Qinling Mountains region reflect the hominin behavioral changes and the development of lithic technology during the Pleistocene.

The nature of Paleolithic cultures in South China and their relationship with mainland Southeast Asia remains ill-defined. The lithic industry of South China has been characterized as a simple ‘cobble-tool’ industry, persisting from the early Pleistocene to the Holocene, while the most representative Southeast Asian industry was also marked by a pebble-tool techno-complex, the Hoabinhian, during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene. A possible cultural link between the two regions has been proposed by some scholars but the technological characteristics of the two industries remained elusive, as did the variability within them. In this paper we conduct technological analysis of a ‘cobble-tool’ industry associated with a bone tool technology from Luobi Cave, Hainan Island, dated to c. 11–10 ka, and compare it with the well-studied typical Hoabinhian site of Laang Spean in Cambodia. While there is a slight similarity in operational sequence (chaine operatoire), a major difference is that the Luobi Cave site can be rejected as a potential Hoabinhian site. The excavated material indicates a high degree of innovation and demonstrates a new sort of variability in the tool-kit of modern human groups during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition in South China and Southeast Asia. This study represents an initial attempt to decipher the technological cultural variability in this region. We suggest that the emergence of behavioral modernity and cultural variability should be evaluated at both regional and sub-regional scales, instead of defining them as uniform, progressive and incremental, processes. Here we present, firstly, the variability of operational sequences (chaines operatoires) within the lithic production of Luobi Cave, and then compare this assemblage with typical and well-studied Hoabinhian assemblages from Laang Spean Cave in Cambodia to make clear the regional variability or complexity of human technological behaviors. Secondly, we then discuss the role of these technological behaviors as strategies for adapting to diverse ecology and environments from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene.

Marine Isotope Stage 4 to 6 Tephra Horizons in the North Atlantic Ocean: The SMART Perspective

Hominin dispersals from the Jaramillo subchron in central and south-western Europe: Untermassfeld (Germany) and Vallparadís (Spain)

Dongjiang water has been the key source of water supplies for Hong Kong and its neighbouring cities in the Pearl River Delta in South China since the mid-1960s. Rapid economic development and population growth in this region have caused serious concerns over the adequacy of the quantity and quality of water withdrawn from the Dongjiang River in the future. Information on the magnitude and frequency of low flows in the basin is needed for planning of water resources at present and in the near future. The L-moment method is used to analyse the regional frequency of low flows, since recent studies have shown that it is superior to other methods that have been used previously, and is now being adopted by many organizations worldwide. In this study, basin-wide analysis of low flows is conducted for Dongjiang basin using five distributions: generalized logistic, generalized extreme value, lognormal, Pearson type III and generalized Pareto. Each of these has three parameters estimated by the L-moment method. The discordancy index and homogeneity testing show that 14 out of the 16 study sites belong to a homogenous region; these are used for further analysis. Based on the L-moment ratios diagram, the Hosking and Wallis goodness-of-fit statistical criterion and the L-kurtosis criterion, the three-parameter lognormal distribution is identified as the most appropriate distribution for the homogeneous study region. The regional low-flow estimates for each return period are obtained using the index flood procedure. Examination of the observed and simulated low flows by regional frequency analysis shows a good agreement in general, and the results may satisfy practical application. Furthermore, the regional low-flow relationship between mean annual 7-day low flows and basin area is developed using linear regression, providing a simple and effective method for estimation of low flows of desired return periods for ungauged catchments.

Les principales étapes de l’occupation humaine en bordure de l’Himalaya occidentale

The Grotta Grande of Scario (Salerno, Italy): Archaeology and environment during the last interglacial (MIS 5) of the Mediterranean region

Recycling in the Early Middle Paleolithic: The role of resharpening flakes assessed through techno-functional analysis

South China preserves a rich archaeological record elucidating the evolution of early modern humans during the Late Pleistocene. However, few studies on plant utilization were conducted in this region. We used phytolith analysis from Yahuai Cave, Guangxi, to infer human use of plant resources over the past 30000 years. AMS 14C dating was used to constrain the chronological framework. Results indicate that several economically essential species were present throughout the sequence including Urticineae (cf. Ulmus sp.), which appears in the lower layers of the sequence (Marine Isotope Stage 3 through Heinrich 1); bamboo and palm which appear throughout the sequence, and wild rice which appears in a clear archaeological context dating to 16000 years ago. This is the earliest record of wild rice in South China and a prerequisite for rice domestication. The unique stone tool assemblages, which resemble those in north China as opposed to South China, point to the possibility that humans, seeking refuge from the colder north, brought their tool kit with them and utilized familiar northern taxa. Warmer South China would have served as a refuge for human populations escaping the cold, harsh climate in the north with more ameliorate conditions in the south.

The Iberomaurusian lithic industries in the Maghreb are known for their microlithization characteristics beginning ca. 25 ka cal BP. The analyses of the Iberomaurusian lithic assemblages in Algeria have mostly focused on typological and stylistic issues. These are good for distinguishing the various archaeological entities encountered in the region but inadequate for understanding the techno-economic behaviors that these industries supported. A technological approach to analysis allows for the recognition of the choices made by the knappers throughout the core reduction processes, the blank production, the transformation of blanks into tools, and the debitage methods and techniques. It has proven useful for understanding not only lithic production process but also the roles that lithic tools played in various subsistence economies. Hence, this paper uses a technological approach to reanalyze the lithic assemblages from Tamar Hat, Rassel, and Columnata. The lithic industries of these three sites are characterized by the tendency toward microlithization as attested by the presence of small chipped stone artifacts on diminutive blanks. The results suggest that the hunter-gatherer populations of the Maghreb produced microliths using a wide range of technological options during the Late Pleistocene. The study also reveals diachronic changes in the production modalities of the microliths. These changes are likely related to variations in hunting strategies in different ecological niches and as adaptive strategies to various paleoclimatic events of the Late Pleistocene.

The Iberomaurusian lithic industries in the Maghreb are known for their microlithization characteristics beginning ca. 25 ka cal BP. The analyses of the Iberomaurusian lithic assemblages in Algeria have mostly focused on typological and stylistic issues. These are good for distinguishing the various archaeological entities encountered in the region but inadequate for understanding the techno-economic behaviors that these industries supported. A technological approach to analysis allows for the recognition of the choices made by the knappers throughout the core reduction processes, the blank production, the transformation of blanks into tools, and the debitage methods and techniques. It has proven useful for understanding not only lithic production process but also the roles that lithic tools played in various subsistence economies. Hence, this paper uses a technological approach to reanalyze the lithic assemblages from Tamar Hat, Rassel, and Columnata. The lithic industries of these three sites are characterized by the tendency toward microlithization as attested by the presence of small chipped stone artifacts on diminutive blanks. The results suggest that the hunter-gatherer populations of the Maghreb produced microliths using a wide range of technological options during the Late Pleistocene. The study also reveals diachronic changes in the production modalities of the microliths. These changes are likely related to variations in hunting strategies in different ecological niches and as adaptive strategies to various paleoclimatic events of the Late Pleistocene.KeywordsIberomaurusianAlgeriaLate PleistoceneLithic technologyMicrolithic technologies

Les premières occupations humaines dans le Sud du Brésil : une vision géoarchéologique intégrée

Keteleeria is a small genus of Pinaceae now mainly restricted to eastern Asia. Although this genus has been documented with a wide distribution in the geologic record of Europe, North America, and Asia, its history in low‐latitude areas (including South China) has remained obscure. In this paper, a fossil wood of Keteleeria sp. is described from the Late Pleistocene (29–27 ka BP) of the Maoming Basin, South China. This wood is the most ancient megafossil evidence of Keteleeria within the modern distribution area of this genus. The fossil records of Keteleeria suggests that this thermophyllous genus migrated into South China by the Middle Pleistocene escaping from glacial cooling and became widespread over this region in the Late Pleistocene beginning from the interglacial stage preceding the Last Glacial Maximum. The analysis of growth rings in the fossil wood and its comparison with those of modern Keteleeria davidiana (Bertrand) Beissner indicates that in the Late Pleistocene of Maoming Basin (29–27 ka BP) there was a humid climate with less pronounced seasonality of precipitation than that seen in the subtropical monsoonal climate of modern northeastern Vietnam. Apparently, the Maoming Basin was influenced by interglacial regime with summer–monsoon circulation. The previously proposed method to distinguish between evergreen and deciduous conifers based on growth ring anatomy, is not reliable because of the wide variance and ambiguity in its results.

Human migration into Europe during the late Early Pleistocene climate transition